'Skunk Pigs' May Mourn Their Dead, Footage Shows

December 13, 2017—New footage shows a kind of hoofed mammal performing a remarkable behavior for the first time. Collared peccaries, or "skunk pigs," live in a wide variety of habitats in the Americas, with Arizona at the northern end of their range. For a school project, 8-year-old Dante de Kort of Prescott, Arizona set up a camera trap near his home. In the videos, peccaries repeatedly visit the carcass of another peccary. They touch and sniff. Some even sleep next to the body, and defend it from coyotes. The peccaries may have been mourning. Further research is needed to know for sure.

'Skunk Pigs' May Mourn Their Dead, Footage Shows

December 13, 2017—New footage shows a kind of hoofed mammal performing a remarkable behavior for the first time. Collared peccaries, or "skunk pigs," live in a wide variety of habitats in the Americas, with Arizona at the northern end of their range. For a school project, 8-year-old Dante de Kort of Prescott, Arizona set up a camera trap near his home. In the videos, peccaries repeatedly visit the carcass of another peccary. They touch and sniff. Some even sleep next to the body, and defend it from coyotes. The peccaries may have been mourning. Further research is needed to know for sure.